Oil fount



May 17, 1932. R, A, CURRIE 1,858,884

` OIL FOUNT yFiled June ll, 1929 ATTUH/Vf/S WET ROBERT A. CURRIE, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO R. E. DIE'IZ COMPANYOF NEW YORK, IN'. Y.

OIL FOUN T Application. filed .Tune 11, 1929. Serial No. 370,042.

This invention relates to oil founts for lanterns and the like and especially to portable f and signal lanterns which are frequently swung about when in use. When a lantern is swung or given sudden movements, the oil in the fount tends to slush about, and acting somewhat like a piston, creates a pressure on the air in the fount.

The pressure created in this manner tends to force some of the air of the fount outwardly along the wick tube, and the air thus escaping frequently extinguishes the flame. Attempts have been made to overcome this diliiculty by packing the fount or the wick tube with absorbent material, but the results have been unsatisfactory because this material tends to pack down, and within a few months becomes a hard lump which acts something like the plunger of a pump and in- .29 creases the bad eects, necessitating frequent fount replacement or repacking.

An object of this invention is to improve oil founts of lanterns and the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved oil fount for lanterns, with which the disturbance in the flame by the oil in the fount will be eliminated or minimized to such an extent as to be negligible; with which the oil may feed to the wick freely in ample or required quantities; with which the air in the fount will be subjected to the least possible disturbance during movements of the lantern and which may be used indefinitely without attention and with maximum effectiveness.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved oil fount. with which movements of the oil therein during movements of the lantern will be restrained to an extent fected thereby, and which will be relatively simple, durable. effective and inexpensive.

Further objects and advantages will appear from the following description of two embodiments of the invention7 and the novel. features will be pointed out hereinafter in connection with the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation through a sigsuch that the llame will not be materially afy Aits top by a cover 2, and removably ldisposed within the usual fount receptacle or base shell 3 of the frame. rl`he cover 2 of the fountV casing is provided with a central opening 4:, in which is removably mounted a burner 5 having a wick 6 depending therefrom into the interior of the` fount casing. The opening l may be provided with a flanged sleeve which depends slightly into thecasing and the burner 5 maybe threaded therein.

. The cover 2 may carry a depending tube or slusher 7 which extends toward the bottom wall of the casing and terminatesin proximity thereto The tube 7 may be provided at spaced points along its length with a plu- -rality of rings or annular flanges or baffle means 8 which Yextend into .close proximity to the peripheral or side wall of the casing. The flanges or baffles 8 act as partition walls which subdivide the interior of .th-e fount 'ory casing around the tube 7 into a plurality of small compartments superposed yabove one another.

The tube 7 may terminate just above the bottom wall of the casing and have a flange 8 adjacent to its lower end so as to provide a relatively Ashallow bottom .chamber or compartment Ainto which the lower end of the tube 7 opens, and into which the wick 6 depends. The compartments around the tube 7 which are formed by the spaced flanges or vpartitions 8 have a limited or restricted communication with one another such as by small apertures, or by a slight clearance between the casing wall and the periphery of a flange of partition, as illustrated in Figs.' l and 2.

The oil in the different compartments may thus descend or filter by gravity into the lowermost compartment A, as required, to supply the wick 6 with oil, any very rapid movements between the compartments being prevented by the flanges 8. The tube 7 is made relatively small so as to provide only a limited quantity of oil in contact with the wick.

The baiile rings or plates 8 will limit slushing of the oil in the fount as the lantern is swung or moved about rapidly, and thus by preventing or restricting material movements of the oil in the fount, the oil cannot act as a piston to force trapped air up the wick tubs of the burner to an extent suilicient to materially interfere with the flame. The tube 7 may have a vent 7 b adjacent its top toequalize air pressures inside the tube and casing, and to permit the oil to seek a common lead within and outside of the tube.

In Fig. 3 a similar oil fount is illustrated, except that the tube 7 a extends into close proximity to the bottom wall of the casing l, and the wick will be entirely confined within the tube 7 a. The flanges 8a similar to the langes 8 of Figs. l and 2, are arranged along the tube 7a in a manner similar to that explained in connection with Fig. l, but they fit closely to the inner peripheral wall of the fount casing. 'Each iiange or baie plate 8a may have a small aperture 9 therein, which allows the oil to filter slowly downwardly from compartment to compartment and enter the lower end of tube 7 a, as necessary to supply the wick. There is suiiicient clearance between the lower end of tube 7 a and the bottom wall of the casing, to permit the movement of the oil into the lower end of the tube at a rate ample to supply the wick.

Any desired number of baille rings or plates 8 or 8a may be provided along the tube 7 or 7 a in either embodiment of the invention.

It has been found that with an oil fount constructed in accordance with this invention, the wick is able to draw its supply of oil freely, and the flame from the wick will burn steadily without changing intensity, even though the lantern is given various violent swinging, or up and down movements, as in signalling. It also has been found that there Ell be a minimum tendency for the wick to c ar.

It will be obvious that various changes in the details, which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

An oil fount for lanterns, comprising a closed casing having an opening at the top to receive and mount a burner and its depending wick, a tube in said casing approximately alined with said opening for receiving said wick, and communicating with the space in said easing around the tube at approximate` ly the top and bottom of the tube, said tube extending into close proximity to the bottom of said casing, and partition means surrounding said tube and subdividing the chamber of said casing around said tube into a plurality of compartments, the compartments formed by said partition means having such limited communication with one another that oil in the casing may move from compartment to compartment with suilicient rapidity to supply the wick, and is restricted in such movement to such an extent that when the lantern is given abrupt movements, the forcing of air through the wick tube, by slushing oi the oil in the casing, sufficiently to cause flickering or extinguishment of the iiame is prevented.

ROBERT A. CURRIE. 

